Interaction between steps and reconstruction on Au(111)

Due to its famous 22x root 3 reconstruction, the Au(lll) surface can he con sidered as an ideal substrate to grow nanostructured arrays of metallic clu sters. In this letter, we report a complete investigation of the interactio n between this reconstruction and the close-packed steps of the Au(lll) sur face. Scanning tunneling microscopy experiments clearly demonstrate that th e behaviour of the reconstruction in the vicinity of steps depends drastica lly on the step microstructure. This result, of particular interest for the managing of new nanostructured substrates, is interpreted in terms of the relative stability of both types of steps.